Local welfare services provided by local councils provide a vital safety net to households in financial crisis and should receive long-term government funding, a new study concludes.

London Councils commissioned analysts at Policy in Practice to carry out the first ever in-depth evaluation of Local Welfare Assistance (LWA) schemes across the capital.

The research found that a wide range of events can cause financial crisis and trigger an application for welfare assistance, including domestic abuse, flooding of homes, redundancy, and bereavement. Many applicants had experienced delays in receiving benefits payments, suggesting delivery problems in the national benefits system are a factor driving demand for local welfare support.

Concluding that councils are best placed to provide such emergency support to residents, the researchers recommend that central government re-establishes ring-fenced, long-term funding for local authorities’ LWA schemes. The government abolished direct funding for LWA from 2015/16, leaving local authorities to decide whether to maintain an LWA service paid for via their general funds.

London Councils’ Executive Member for Communities, Cllr Claire Holland, said:  “As this research shows, councils’ local welfare services provide a vital safety net. We’re often our residents’ last hope and a xxxxxx against homelessness and despair. Boroughs believe the money invested in this support pays real dividends, not only by assisting those in crisis but also through avoiding additional costs to the wider public sector.”

London boroughs’ ambitious joint work on retrofitting London’s homes to make them greener and warmer has been named Climate Project of the Year at the UK Housing Awards.

Enfield and Waltham Forest, the lead boroughs for the collaborative Retrofit London programme, along with London Councils, were declared winners at the awards held on 23 December.

London's buildings are responsible for around a third of the capital’s total carbon emissions. By working together to upgrade housing stock, boroughs are determined to drive a dramatic decarbonisation of property, with additional benefits in reducing fuel poverty and boosting green industries.

Retrofit London is one of London Councils’ seven climate change programmes. The programmes were established to support cross-borough work on tackling key climate change issues facing the capital.

You can find out more about London Councils' Climate Change work and the seven climate change programmes here.

A number of London local government figures were recognised in the 2023 New Year Honours list, including former Chair of the City of London Policy and Resources Committee and London Councils Vice Chair, Catherine McGuiness, who was awarded a CBE for services to the financial sector and educational inclusion.

Others recognised in the awards include: Former Hounslow Leader Stephen Curran, who received a CBE for services to local government; former Brent Deputy Leader Margaret McLennan, who received an MBE for services to digital inclusion and to the community in Brent; Head of Culture and Place, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Verena Cornwall, who received an MBE for services to local government and to the community in Kensington and Chelsea; and Jahran Allen-Thompson, Mortuary Service Manager at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, who received an MBE for services to local government.

London Councils is keen to promote best practice for boroughs to better support older people living in their communities and we are part of the age-friendly boroughs strategy working group which aims to encourage councils to sign up to become, World Health Organization (WHO) age-friendly communities. 

The Centre for Ageing Better is running a webinar to share the WHO  framework for creating an age-friendly community and how places across the UK have made their communities great places to grow old in.

More details and online booking for the Introduction to Age-friendly Communities webinar on Wednesday
15th February 10-11am here.

To have a conversation about making your borough an age-friendly community contact AFC Network. And for more information on the Age-friendly London approach contact Sue Johnson, Senior Policy Officer, Equality, Inclusion and Diversity, GLA.